


Secret Santa

by Bellatrix_Wannabe_89



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16917807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellatrix_Wannabe_89/pseuds/Bellatrix_Wannabe_89
Summary: Snow decides that since this is everyone’s first Christmas not seperated by curses or death or fake identities and one half of the group isn’t trying to kill the other half, this would be the perfect year to do a Secret Santa. Some are happy with their choices while others... well, let’s just say they’re grateful Christmas only comes once a year. OQ, CS, Snowing and Rumbelle





	1. The Picks

**Author's Note:**

> Canon divergent in that Regina split herself so that she could share her ‘non evil’ soul with Robin and that brings him back to life and OQ married at the end of S5. Takes place after the end of S6. Everyone’s happy, everyone’s married, no villains to fight, no more curses… it’s all good.

“No.”

“Come on!”

“No.”

“It’ll be fun!”

“I’d rather gouge my eyes out with rusty forks.”

“I’m with the crocodile. I don’t like the sound of this either.”

“You’re my son-in-law, you don’t get a choice.”

Hook shared a look with Emma who was biting back a smile and just shrugged as if to say ‘she’s got a point’.

“I’m not going to partake in a childish tradition,” Rumple argued, ignoring the pleading look Belle was giving him.

“It is not childish and yes you are doing Secret Santa,” David replied in place of his wife. “We ALL are,” he added with a pointed look towards Hook.

“Well I think it’ll be fun,” said Robin, the first vote of confidence since Snow gathered them all at the sheriff's station and informed them all of her plan.

“Thank you, Robin. See? He gets it!”

“Of course the Boy Scout think it’s a good idea,” Zelena muttered, gaining a rather annoyed look from Robin who choose not to throw back a harsh retort.

Not like he would have had much of a chance because at that moment Robyn, who had playing quietly on the floor of the station with her stuffed arrows, ran over to Robin and pulled on his pant leg.

“I wet, Daddy,” Robyn informed her father, looking up at him with her big bright green eyes.

“I’ll change her,” Zelena offered rather eagerly. 

The red headed witch only saw her daughter on Wednesday’s and every other weekend. Other than that she lived with Robin, Regina and Roland full time and it was such a rare occasion to see her child outside of those particular days that when she did; Zelena liked to make the absolute most of it.

Not that her daughter made it easy for her though.

Robyn responded to the innocent request by whinging and clutching Robins leg tighter, shaking her head so hard her braid hit her in the face several times.

“Want Daddy!” 

Robin just chuckled, missing the pained look on Zelena's face as he ruffled Robyn’s hair. “That’s fine. Come on, little peanut, Daddy’ll change you.”

After recovering from that moment Zelena reached into her bag, pulling out a pull-up decorated with pink teddy bears. “I got a spare pull-up if you need it.”

Regina took one look at the pull-up and shook her head. “No she hates the teddy bear ones, they’re a bit too tight for her. She actually prefers the ones with the fish on them.”

Sure enough Robin reached in his satchel and pulled out a pull-up covered in green and orange fishes and without sparing Zelena so much as a second glance but taking time to give Regina a quick peck on the lips, sealing the promise that he would be right back he got up from his seat, picked up Robyn and headed into the restroom.

“Turns out your mother isn’t the only woman in your life who prefers someone else over you,” said Rumple.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” warned Snow, hoping to quench what was sure to become a tirade of insults back and forth between the witch and dark one. “It is three weeks until Christmas, no one is allowed to insult anyone.”

Regina just scoffed, raising her brow at the woman with the pixie cut. “You’ve met my side of the family right?”

“ANYWAY…” David cut in, his eyes darting between the three reformed villains. “We’re all doing this, no more complaints.”

Snow took a deep breath, forcing the smile she had worn previously back to her lips before she grabbed a piece of scrap paper and began writing all of their names on it.

“Now, I decided to add a fun little twist to this,” Snow informed them, ripping the bits of paper and putting them into Belles hat. “Rather than just buy something at a store or order something online, whatever we get our Secret Santa has to be either homemade, or it has to be something that didn’t cost anything.”

“Oh come on, Mom... Most of these things just have people exchanging gift cards and everyone’s happier for it,” Emma said above the groans of the rest of the crowd. “Now we have to MAKE something?”

“It’ll mean more knowing it comes from the heart,” Snow argued as she shook the hat so the names could get mixed up as Robin emerged with a freshly changed Robyn who ran back over to her pile of toys. 

When the crowd groaned again, Snow frowned at the people surrounding her, her shoulders slumping and the excitement she felt when she came up with the idea draining. “I know it’s gonna be a little extra work but… this is the first Christmas we’ve had together where we aren’t separated by curses or fake identities or even death. There’s no villains wreaking havoc on the town and one half the group isn’t trying to kill the other half… I just thought this might be a fun way to celebrate that.”

A guilty silence fell over the group. Even Rumple managed to look a little ashamed at his previous protests.

Henry, who had been silent up until now, jumped up from his chair and made his way over to Snow with a beaming grin on his face. “Well I think a Secret Santa is an excellent idea. I’m really looking forward to it.”

A soft smile made its way on Emma’s face before she reached over and took Snow's hand in hers. “Me too, Mom.”

“Me three,” Regina added.

“Here here,” Hook conformed with a curt nod. 

The rest of the group turned towards Rumple who just sighed and rolled his eyes with a flourished wave of his hand. “I suppose it won’t be absolutely terrible…”

That was enough for the princess. 

Snow beamed at the gathering before she shook the hat once more for good measure and held it out to Henry.

“If you get one of your mom’s you have to pick again,” Snow informed him. “It’s not fair you only buy one gift and not the other.” 

Henry nodded as he reached into the hat and picked out a piece of paper and looked at it, smiled, nodded and put the slip into his pocket. Snow shook the hat again and offered it to Regina who reached in the black felt hat.

“Oh you’ve GOT to be kidding me,” Regina snapped as she looked at the bit of paper. “Let me pick again.” 

“Sorry no take backs or switches,” Snow informed her, offering the hat to Hook who grinned at his selection.

“Oh this’ll be an easy one,” he said as Emma picked hers, groaning loudly and flopping down in her chair.

“Great,” she said rather dryly. Emma turned towards Hook and held out her paper. “Switch with me.” 

Hook took one look at her name and laughed at his wife’s newest predicament. “I love you, Swan, but not that much.”

“No switches,” Snow reminded them, “and this is supposed to be a secret.”

She offered the hat to Zelena then Belle, neither of whom had a particularly memorable responses, then to David who looked like he had just been handed a death sentence but unlike the rest of the unsatisfied group he choose to keep his complaints to himself.

Snow picked next, grinning wildly at the name she choose before she stuffed the paper into the pocket of her cardigan and offered the hat to Robin whose face fell when he read his name.

“You have to let me switch,” he told the princess.

“Robin-.”

“Please?”

“No switching. Okay, none of us are enemies anymore, we’re all heroes… everyone gets the name they choose and that’s that.”

Finally she handed the hat to Rumple who, with a heavy sigh, picked his name and looked at the piece of paper. When he read the name his bored expression morphed into a rather dangerous smirk.”

“Oh ho…. Well I thought this’ll be a painful excursion but this might actually be fun.”

Hooks face fell at the almost cryptic words. 

“Who’d you get?” he demanded.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, Pirate.  It is supposed to be a secret after all _ …” _ he said with a wink towards his oldest friend and oldest enemy.

“Any bloody thing the crocodile gets me I’m not opening!” Hook barked.

“Oh relax, he isn’t going to do anything dangerous,” Snow assured him, although the ways her eyes darted towards the smirking man her words didn’t have quite the impact she wanted. “Now, we all have our names, I’m thinking we do the gift exchange when we all go over to Regina's for dinner?”

Belle nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Good.” Snow beamed at her family, clapping her hands together. “Gosh, this is so exciting! I just know you guys are gonna have so much fun picking out your gifts and seeing the look on your persons face when they open them!”

Her exclamation was met with a few grumbles of disagreement but she choose to ignore those and instead just wrapped her arms around David, the light in her eyes making, in the prince’s point of view at least, this whole excursion worth it.

Sensing that this particular meeting had come to a close the group all separated into their own groups.

“You ready to go home, Peanut?” Robin asked his daughter as he picked her up while Regina packed up the toys and stuffed them into his satchel which had, more or less, became their baby bag. 

Zelena walked over to the small family, clearing her throat. “I um… I was wondering if I might be able to talk to you,” said the red head when she had their attention. “I um- I know Christmas is on a Tuesday this year and it’s not my day with her…”

“We’re letting you have Christmas Eve with her,” Robin reminded her.

“You’re letting me have her from 1-6 before you come pick her up to take her to church in the middle of the bloody forest.”

“Friar Tuck always does a Midnight Mass.”

“And you’re taking her to church, again, in the morning,” Zelena argued. “How much can you REALLY stomach hearing about one magic baby? Hell, Emma was born with magic but you don’t wanna stay up late to hear about her birth.”

“Zelena,” Regina warned. “Don’t.”

“Well it’s not fair, Regina!” Zelena snapped. “I have gifts that I want to give her too, I have traditions of my own I wanna share with her as well!”

Robin sighed, shifting Robyn from one arm to the other. “You can’t have her in the morning. She’s going to open gifts with her brothers and then I’m taking her and Roland to Christmas Mass. Would the afternoon work with you? Then afterwards you can bring her round Regina's for dinner. Roland and I will be spending most of the afternoon at the soup kitchen volunteering anyway.”

“No! She’ll be tired from your religious fanatically and nap most of the time! She is two years old, she doesn’t need to go to church much less go to it twice in a twelve hour period, Robin!”

“It’s the afternoon or nothing at all,” Robin told her, a finality in his voice that let Zelena know this was the end of the discussion. 

Zelena debated arguing but when she saw the look on Robyn’s face and saw her clutch her father tighter as if she was afraid of the red head. Zelena sighed, rubbing her temples. “Fine. Fine, I’ll have her for the afternoon. But since the next day is Wednesday can I just take her back home and she can spend the night?”

“We’ll see,” was all Robin said before he turned to a slightly guilt ridden Regina. “You ready, M’lady?”

“Am I allowed to tell her goodbye?” Zelena muttered darkly. Without waiting for a response Zelena leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Robyn’s cheek, ignoring the fact she wiped it from her skin.

“Mummy loves you so much, my little green bean,” Zelena cooed. “I’ll see you Wednesday okay? Perhaps you and I can bake some Christmas cookies together.”

Robyn didn’t say a word and just clung to her dad tighter.

Zelena swallowed hard before she turned and left the sheriff's station, missing Robin gently chastise their daughter for not kissing her mother goodbye.

 

Please Review! 


	2. Snowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the reviews!!! I had no idea it would get so many reviews and so much love!!! Hopefully I can continue being worth of your praise lol.

“We still gotta buy the candy for the gingerbread house competition at the school, we have to find something to get Dorothy, I have to pick up that stethoscope I ordered for Doc, I have to wrap Leroy’s new flask, you promised Robin you would help him and the Merry Men with the food-drive, then when you’re done with that you need to call the vet because one of the chickens isn’t laying as much as she used to and after that we need to-.”

“I don’t think you and I have enough to do. You might wanna add a few more things to the list.”

Snow looked over her two sided list at David who was sitting in his normal spot, a mug of coffee and a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him while his loyal sheepdog, Wilby Two, sat patiently by his master's side waiting for breakfast crumbs to fall.

“Are you being serious or are you joking?” asked Snow. “I don’t want the town to think we’re being lazy. I suppose we could always volunteer for the city hall snowmen contest, Regina mentioned they were having problems finding judges. I’m gonna give her a call later on and see if she still-.”

“Snow…” David reached across the table and grasped her hand. “There is not a person in Storybrooke who thinks you’re lazy. Especially not when NASA does a report on the fact that our Christmas lights can be seen from outer space.”

“I just wanna make the most of this Christmas,” the princess admitted. “Not just for us but for Emma and everyone else too. Like I said last week, this is the first time where things are actually calm and no one’s cursed. Storybrooke didn’t even have Christmas for twenty eight years, then we were cursed Emma’s first Christmas with us, we were still fighting Regina our first Christmas awake, we were separated from Emma and Regina was separated from Henry for the third, Robin and Rumple were gone for the fourth, Hook was actually DEAD two Christmases ago, then Gideon and the Black Fairy were threatening to kill everyone last year… I just wanna make sure everyone has a good time.”

The prince brought the back of her hand to his lips, lightly kissing her soft smooth hand. “They will, Snow… WE will, and so will Emma. I promise.”

Snow smiled at her husband, the weight that had been crushing her relinquishing just enough to make her smile.  She reached up and caressed his face.

“I love you so much sometimes, David.”

“I love you too.”

They leaned over the breakfast table and gave one another a short peck on the lips that lasted far too short for either of their liking but when the sound of their front door opened they were forced to break apart.

“Hey Mom, hi Dad,” Emma greeted her parents as she walked into their kitchen, giving Wilby Two a quick scratch behind the ears before sitting down. “You guys said you had some eggs for me?”

“We do indeed,” David answered as he got up from his spot at the breakfast table, kissing the top of her head as a means of greeting. “Your mom also made some scrambled eggs and bacon if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks but no thanks, my stomach's been kinda queasy lately,” she admitted. “But I will steal some of your orange juice.”

“You’re getting sick?” Snow asked as Emma reached out took a drink from her dad's glass of juice, the panic in her tone clear as a bell. “Cursed sick or just regular sick? Have you been to see Whale? What about Regina, I’m sure she has a potion that can help.”

“It’s just a bug, it’s fine. I wake up kinda nauseous, take a swig of pepto and by the afternoon I’m fine,” Emma promised, taking another drink of orange juice.  “There’s no dark magic, probably just bad cooking on my end.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. And yes, I’m gonna be fine for Christmas,” she added knowing that even if Snow wouldn’t admit it, that was something she was concerned about.

“Oh Sweetie, I’m not worried about that,” Snow told her. “I’m not!” she insisted when Emma raised her brow at her mother.

“Uh huh. But speaking of Christmas I wanted to talk to you about the Secret Santa.”

Snow’s fretting about her daughter quickly melted away and she perked up rather quickly, her eyes lighting up at the mention of the project she had organized.

“Sure, Emma! It’s supposed to be a secret but anyway I can help you I will.”

“I need you to switch with me.”

Just like that, the excitement was gone.

“Emma, I already said-.”

“I know but this person’s impossible to shop for.”

“Tell me about it,” David muttered as he came back to the table with a carton of fresh eggs he had collected just this morning and handed them to Emma. “I think I got the worst of the bunch.”

“Bet I have you beat,” Emma argued before she turned back to Snow, almost flinching at the disappointment on her face. “Don’t look at me like that. If I could buy something it’d be so much easier but something I have to make for this person and not have them mock it or hate it? It’s impossible.”

“But that’s what’s gonna make it so much more special, Emma! Seeing something you made from the heart being enjoyed by someone? That beats everything else.”

“Mom-.”

“I used to make my mother jewelry,” Snow interrupted with a sad smile. “What was funny was she would actually wear what I made her right alongside her ten thousand dollar diamond necklace and five thousand dollar emerald bracelet.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile at the memory Snow was sharing with her. It was far too rare an occurrence that Snow actually talked about her parents so when she actually did, Emma always listened as intently as she could.

“I’m sure she loved them, Mom.”

“The first Christmas after my mom was gone I made Regina a necklace,” Snow continued. “I glued some really pretty colorful stones I found by the sea on a simple gold chain, I worked for WEEKS on it… I think she wore it once and she only did because my father made her so I wouldn’t feel bad.”

“Surprised she didn’t use it to try to make a voodoo doll outta it,” said David, earning an eye roll from Snow.

“She probably did try, she just couldn’t get the stones unglued,” Emma offered.

“Guys, she’s not that person anymore,” Snow reminded them. “We aren’t allowed to be mean to her. Especially not when there’s two weeks until Christmas.”

“Fine fine, no more Regina bashing. What do you think happened to the necklace though?”

“Oh she definitely threw it out the second me and my father weren’t looking but the point still stands; it’s Christmas and we’re not allowed to be mean.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Emma chuckled and nodded, finishing off her father’s glass of juice. “Got it. But anyway, back to my original point-.”

“No switching,” Snow said again, earning a loud groan from the blonde. “You’re an intelligent woman, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Emma just rolled her eyes as Snow got up from the table, grabbing David’s now empty glass and plate, scraping the leftovers in the dogs food dish before placing them in the sink.

“What does your person like to, what are some of their favorite things, what’s something they’ve always wanted to try or do…”

“All those things cost money to give.”

“That’s where the creativity comes in,” Snow told her as she filled the sink with hot soapy water. “Maybe you paint them a picture of a place they’ve never been and always wanted to go.”

“Except I can’t paint.”

“It’ll be the thought that counts. Or here’s a suggestion, a nice little photo collage of you and your person.”

“There’s not a lot of photos of us together though,” Emma argued.

“Or one nice photo of you two in a frame that you make.”

“I’m not sure they’d really appreciate that. Hell there’s only about one person I have photos of that they would… appreciate…”

Emma pursed her lips for a moment and Snow could practically see the wheels whirling in her mind. Sure enough, a moment later, the blonde grinned as she stood up from the table and kissed her father on the cheek before making her way over to her mother. “You’re a genius,” she told Snow, kissing her on the cheek just as she had done with David.

“I just pushed you in the right direction,” Snow told her with a smile. “And whatever you come up with I’m sure is going to be brilliant and they’re going to love it.”

Emma just grinned as she got down a clean glass from their cupboard. “Here’s hoping.”

With a refill of orange juice that she downed rather quickly, Emma hurried back over to the table where she grabbed the fresh carton eggs her dad was giving her. “I gotta get going but we still going to lunch at Grannies on Tuesday?”

“We are.”

“Then I will see you then.”

Wishing her parents a merry Christmas, Emma left the homey farm house and headed back to her own seaside home.

“Well at least she got her guy chosen,” David sighed as he got up from his seat. “I still have no idea what I’m getting my person.”

“You’ll think of something,” Snow said confidently as he came next to her to dry the dishes and put them away. “I have faith in my Prince.”

“You might have faith but I don’t. Like Emma said, if I could just buy something… even then it’d be almost impossible.”

“Well what does your person like, what do they dislike?”

“Nothing and everything. Sorry,” he added when she gave him an exasperated look. “And I’m not complaining, just saying it’s… gonna be a little tougher than if I had chosen someone else. Maybe if I’d chosen the person my wife was so excited about getting?”

“Are you really asking me if I wanna switch? The person who just made my own daughter come up with her own gift because I wouldn’t let her break the rules? The person who refused not one but three separate requests from people wanting to switch?”

“...Maybe?”

“No.”

“Figured.”

Snow turned towards her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist and brought him closer to her. “You’ll think of something, and it’ll be clever and creative and charming.” She grinned at her husband, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Just like you.”

David smiled at the princess, wrapping his arms around her as well. “Just like me huh?”

“Exactly like you,” she purred with a timber in her voice that stirred something in the prince.

They kissed again and when she moaned softly in his mouth and he pulled her against him as tight as he could and especially when his hands made their way down to her hips; any and all thoughts and worries about the Secret Santa was most definitely put out of the Prince’s mind.

Until the unfortunately loud sound of his sheep ‘baaing’ outside, wondering where their breakfast was, interrupted what would have turned into quite a fun morning activity.

Snow snorted a laugh as David bowed his head and half laugh/half sighed as he buried his face in her shoulder.

“Go feed your sheep,” said Snow with a friendly smack of his ass. “Then after you get done, maybe we can finish what you started?”

“What *I* started?!”

“Uh huh,” Snow said with another grin. “I’m just an innocent little naive princess afterall, ignorant in the ways of the world and men of your stature.”

“Hmm… well Shepard’s are known for being quite worldly.”

“That they are.” Another quick kiss and David reluctantly left his wife’s warm embrace to the cold Maine winters winds with Wilby Two trailing faithfully behind him.

“Alright, alright, I know you’re hungry,” David told the loud sheep who flocked to him as he pitched the dry fresh hay over the barbed wire fence, providing them with the roughage they couldn’t get in the winter months when the snows buried the grass.

After there was sufficient hay to last them until the evening when he would feed them again, David made his way into the barn where a two month old lamb, too small and too young to be out in the cold was waiting impatiently for his own breakfast.

“Hey little guy,” he greeted the lamb with a smile, throwing in some fresh hay for him as well as stepping into the small little blocked off area so he could clean out the pen and lay down some new bedding.

The lamb bound over to David, snuggling up to the Shepherd and letting out an affectionate ‘baa’ and when David kneeled down in the stall, he smiled as the lamb cuddled up next to him in an attempt to get warmer.

And, as he was stroking the lambs soft white wooly head, a sudden stroke of genius came to him and he grinned wildly.

Because he knew EXACTLY what he was going to get his secret Santa…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this was my first time writing Snowing this in-depth so I really really hope I did them justice. To all the Snowing fans out there, I hope I did you guys proud.


	3. Outlaw Queen

“Hello!”

“We’re home!”

Regina smiled at the sound of two pairs of snowy boots coming through the entryway and making their way into the kitchen where the delectable holiday scents of gingerbread and warm cinnamon wrapped the fortunate recipients to the delightful treats all in a cozy blanket.

Roland raced into the kitchen first, his own child sized quiver and bow sling over his shoulder with a toothy grin, his dark brown curls damp from melted snow. 

“I shot a turkey, Regina!” he announced with a beaming toothy grin.

“You did?!”

“Uh huh! And papa didn’t even have to do a mercy shot either ‘cause I got it right in the chest!”

Regina held back a grimace, still not used to her husband much less her eight year old step son speak about hunting in such a cavalier way. Henry went with Robin once last year but the sixteen year old had less than a stellar time and when it came time to actually loose the bow at the stag, Henry didn’t have the heart.

“That’s great, Roland!”

“He is turning out to be an exceptional little hunter,” Robin added as he walked into the kitchen bursting with fatherly pride.

Two large wild turkeys were slung over both his shoulders, one with an obvious arrow wound in its chest where its heart would be and the other with an arrow hole in the direct center of its head, a far more difficult shot that few, if any, archers apart from Robin could have made.

Robyn, who was standing on a chair in the kitchen helping Regina stir the dough for her latest batch of apple tarts, grinned and hopped down from her stool and raced over to her dad and hugged him tight, not minding the cold or the wet a bit.

“Hi, Daddy!” Robyn greeted him, being met with a smile from the blue eyed thief.

“Hello, my little love. What are you up to?”

“Making cookies! Gina helped,” she added as an afterthought to the amusement of her dad and step mom.

“You made cookies? Well then I shall have to go and try one immediately.”

Robin set the two oversized birds in the sink so that he and Roland could clean them later (the rule was, Robin told his son, if you kill it you clean it) and made his way over to Regina who, as luck would have it, just finished putting the newest batch of her apple cinnamon cookies on the cooling rack.

“Hey, you,” she purred, pausing in her baking to give him a quick kiss, moaning softly as she glorious and tantalizing scent of forest blended perfectly with the cold wintery air filled her senses. “I missed you.”

“And I you,” he told her, sealing his words with another kiss. Regina reached over and snagged one of the cookies from the cooling rack, holding it up to Robin who took a bite from it with a rather large grin.

“Good?” asked Robyn.

“That,” Robin said with a mouthful of cookie, “is quite possibly the best cookie I ever had in my life.”

Robyn beamed at the compliment and, now that her baking skills had been so highly praised, she hurried off to go play.

Robin took another bite of the pleasantly spiced cookie and turned towards Roland. 

“Go get washed up and changed so you can help Regina with dinner.”

“Yes, Papa.”

Before he could scurry off however, Robin walked over to him with a warm soft cookie and kissed the top of his son’s head.

“I’m very proud of you, Roland,” Robin told him as he handed him the treat. “You treated the animal with respect and you didn’t take a shot you weren’t confident you could make without making it suffer.”

After Roland thanked his father for the compliment and ran off, Robin finished off the cookie in his hand before he went over and snagged another one, this one direct from the baking sheet. “Where’s Henry?” he asked the Queen.

“Up in his room working on his Secret Santa gift,” she told him as she put another batch in the oven.

“Still? What on earth could he be working on, it’s been two weeks and he started the day we picked our names.”

“I have no idea but he’s actually really excited about it.”

“That makes one of us,” Robin muttered. He sat down at the table, not bothering to take his outer clothes off knowing he was just about to go back out with his men and David for the food-drive.

If truth would have it Robin nor the Merry Men wanted the prince to come on their excursion seeing as how they had their own less than scrupulous methods for getting food from some of the less than willing patrons of Storybrooke.

But David overheard Robin talking to Blue about it one morning at Grannies and had volunteered his services, not to mention his truck, and who was Robin to tell someone not to volunteer for charity? 

Especially when that particular volunteer had a truck they could use.

“You still don’t know what to get yours?” asked Regina as she filled a large thermos full of hot tea for Robin. 

“Not even a hint of a clue,” he sighed. “It would be different if the gift was going to someone I actually liked but…”

“You don’t wanna put an effort into it?” Regina guessed, the answer confirmed when he shrugged.

“I should want to. It’s Christmas, we’re supposed to set aside our differences and love one another but… my person is, forgive me, rather unloveable.”

Regina poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down beside him, taking a slow sip from it. “I get your side but to be fair at one point that whole group except Henry thought I was unlovable.”

Robin shook his head. “You’re not unloveable. You were just misunderstood, and you’ve made up for your mistakes,” he assured her. The words of confidence brought a soft smile to her lips.

“Well thank you. But I think you’ll find that whoever you got made up for their mistakes as well.”

“Not all of them,” he muttered, taking a rather sad bite of the cookie in his hand and casting his eyes to the table. 

Regina reaches across the table, taking a hold of his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. She pursed her lips for a moment, running her finger alongside the rim of her mug. “Well if it’s really that hard for you, we can always switch,” she offered rather hopefully. “Snow will never know.”

Robin turned to her, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought the point of this was to keep it a secret? Plus didn’t Snow instruct us rather specifically not to switch names once we drew them?”

“She did but she’d never know. Plus I’m having a bit of a time finding something for my own person as well,” she admitted. “I think you’ll find my guy a lot easier to come up with a gift for. I mean I don’t HATE my guy but… I’d really rather have someone else.”

“But  _ I _ would know. Not to mention my honor would be at stake; I don’t want to break Snow’s rules. Especially not when it involves something related to Christmas.”

“I really don’t think your code will be broken because you traded your secret Santa name, Robin.”

“Nevertheless, I’d rather just keep my name and come up with… something.”

Before Regina could continue to comfort him there was three sharp rapts on the the front door followed by the sound of the front door opening. She gave that exasperated look to the group of men who, far more often than she would have liked, walked into her home without an invitation no matter how many times she asked them to knock first.

“Sure, come right in,” Regina grumbled as Little John, Friar Tuck and a few other of the Merry Men made their way into her kitchen. 

“Hey we knocked this time,” John protested.

“Yes but you’re supposed to wait until someone answers the door,” Regina argued but didn’t press the issue too much. When they married she had talked Robin out of having his men move their camp to her back yard but he wouldn’t give up his open door policy when it came to them.

Robin flashed her a sympathetic smile followed by a gentle squeeze of her hand before he turned to his best friend.

“You ready to go?” Robin asked him. Before John could answer however he spotted the cookies cooling in the rack and practically floated like those in cartoons did when they smelled something delicious over to the baked treats.

“Apple cinnamon oatmeal,” Regina answered the unasked question. John picked up one of the still warm soft cookies and took a bite, groaning and throwing his head back in what one might describe as ecstasy.

“Jesus Christ, Rob; how you stay under 500 pounds with the way she cooks I’ll never understand,” he moaned as he grabbed another cookie.

Regina just smirked at her husband’s lieutenant. “Well it helps that I always try to give him a work out later on at night.”

John let out a loud belly laugh along with Tuck and the rest of the group. Robin’s heart soared as he too laughed at the joke she made, the same as it did every time Regina and his men got along.

They weren’t best friends by any means, nor were they as close to Regina as they had been to Marian, but the mistrust and animosity on their part and disgust on hers had ceased at least and she could laugh at the bawdy jokes they told, even make some herself, and they respected her not only as Robin's wife but who she was as a person.

The laughter of the men caught the attention of Robyn who raced in from the living room and threw herself at the large man who caught her and lifted her up as easy as one might lift a feather, tossing her in the air and easily catching her again, looking at her with the same amount of affection that he looked at Roland with.

“Hi, John!” Robyn greeted him with a beaming grin. “I made cookies!”

“And they are delicious, little Robyn,” he told her, kissing the side of her head.

“Thank you!” the toddler exclaimed before hugging the large thief tightly around the neck. After returning the embrace John set her down and she immediately ran into the open waiting arms of her father who picked her up and set her on his lap. “Daddy, I wanna go on the food drive too,” said Robyn.

“I’m afraid you’re too little, my little peanut,” Robin told her. “Besides it’s Friday, your mum is picking you up tonight so you can spend the weekend with her.”

At that particular reminder Robyn pouted and hugged her dad tighter. “Nuh uh. Wanna stay with you and Gina,” she protested rather adorably.

“I know you do but you still have to visit with her.” Then as an afterthought he added, “your mum loves you, Robyn, and you love her.”

Rather than nod in agreement, Robyn’s pout just grew more pronounced and Robin felt a guilt gnaw at him.

He may not have any particularly loving feelings towards Zelena but a child should love their mother, no matter how they were conceived, even if they only spend at most eight days a month with them. 

“Here’s an idea…” said Robin. “How about you draw your mum a Christmas picture of you two to give her tonight. You can add a pretty tree, some gifts… I bet she’ll even hang it up on the fridge like Regina and I do.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Regina added with a smile, getting exactly what Robin was trying to do. “I think your mom will really like that.”

Robyn looked rather ponderous for a moment before she looked up at her father. “I put you and Gina in it? And Roland and Henry?”

“Um… I- I think it might be nice if it was just you and your mum in the picture.”

“Okay,” she muttered with a rather sad pout, sliding off her dads lap and walking away from the group.

A rather awkward silence took over the men. John cleared his throat, slapping Regina on the shoulder and stealing another cookie for the road before he motioned for the other men to get up and leave the couple alone with the excuse that they were going to wait for David to show up with his much coveted truck.

When they were finally left alone, Robin groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“Robyn hates her mum and it’s all my fault. A child shouldn’t hate their mother, not unless they’ve done something awful to them.”

“She does not hate Zelena,” Regina assured him. “She just doesn’t really get to see her that much so she’s closer to you,” she said, trying her best to keep the accusatory tone to a minimum. 

Robin signed, running a hand through his hair. “I know and I know deep down Zelena should be allowed more time with Robyn, she is her mother afterall, but after what she did to me, to us, to Marian… it’s been over two years and I still can’t forgive her for what she did.”

“I know. And I don’t want you to forgive her until you’re ready, if you ever are, and no one will judge you for that, Robin, least of all me,” Regina promised him. “But… she was the one who found the spell that made it possible to split my soul, she was the one who gave me the idea to get the Evil Queen part out of me so your soul would still be pure, she was the one who preserved your body and looked after you until I got back from New York…”

“I know I owe Zelena my life, but that doesn’t mean I have to forget what she did to me.”

“And you shouldn’t have to but… she does love her daughter, it is Christmas, she deserves some… memories… together.”

Regina bit her lip and Robin could practically hear the wheels turning inside her mind.

“Regina? What’s going on?”

“I think… I might have just come up with my secret service gift… they’ll either going to love me for it or hate me for it but it’s something free that quite frankly I’m the only one who can give.”

“Oh?”

“Mmm hmm. But hey, you are an amazing father. Whatever is best for Robyn, I know you’re gonna choose.”

She leaned down to give him a kiss just as David pulled up and honked his horn to let them know he was here. Regina handed Robin his thermos of tea as he stood up, kissing him again and straightening out his jacket. “Go get the poor a lot of food. And who knows, maybe riding around in the truck might clear your head, maybe give you some ideas.”

“I’ll try, M’lady,” Robin promised her. With a final kiss between the two soulmates, the thief grabbed his satchel, slung it up over his shoulder and headed out.

And, as he passed Robyn in the living room drawing a picture of herself and Zelena that, despite his earlier wishes, included himself and Regina along with the lesser sins of Roland and Henry taking up much of the paper, a sudden, terrific idea popped into his head…

He knew exactly what to get his secret Santa. He just hoped the other person involved would go along with it…

 

Please Review!!!


	4. Captain Swan

* * *

_“We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar. Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. Oh star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy Perfect Light.”_

 

“I didn’t know you knew Christmas carols.”

Hook smirked at the blonde who was currently stringing popcorn to put around their tree, only stopping to take an occasional drink out of her rather large glass of orange juice.

Their radio was playing Christmas carols and Hook was expertly crooning right along with the soulful sounds of Bing Crosby, even in the daylight the lights that Hook had strung up, with Henry and David’s assistance, outside blinked a bright red and green in their brightly decorated living room.

A few old fashioned ceramic Father Christmases rested on their coffee tables, two happy little plastic snowman families, one dawning red scarfs and hats the other in green, made their homes on their window sills, and a row of stuffed fat jolly Santa’s and Mrs. Clauses grasping hands hung over their living room doorways.

It was far less elegant looking and far less expensive than Regina's crystal and frosted glass decorations that had been custom made for the inside of her home and their few string of bright colored blinking red and green lights looked almost cheap compared to the simple but high class string of white lights outside Reginas mansion, and their home was far less toned down than the Christmas explosion of Santa’s and angels and snowmen and reindeer inside Snow and David’s farm house and Emma was pretty sure one of these days an airplane would mistake the outside of her parents home for a lighted runway thanks to the multi colored lights and outside lighted decorations that could be seen from half a mile down the road.

The Swan-Jones decorations were warm, adorable, not too classy and frigid but not almost obnoxiously overblown either.

It was perfect for the two of them.

“I assure you, Swan, I know quite a few songs from this realm, celebratory included.” Hook reached over and snagged a piece of popcorn from the bowl. “You don’t get to live three hundred years and not pick up a few customs. Although putting popcorn ‘round a tree; that’s a new one.”

Emma shrugged as she slipped another piece of popcorn on the string. “I dunno. Stringing popcorn always seemed like that sort of Christmas tradition that you always saw on those cheesy Christmas movies with the happy families and I always kinda wanted to do it. Like my mom said; this is the first year where things are actually normal so… I figure why not start a few traditions?”

“None of the previous families you lived with let you put a snack on the tree?”

Emma shook her head, taking another sip of orange juice.

She was gonna have to run out and get some more juice today. She had gone through an entire gallon just this past week…

“Christmases in the foster homes or the group homes were always kinda… blah. I mean the group homes did try to make them special but you can only stomach seeing ‘girl aged 6, girl aged 10, girl aged 13’ so many times before the holiday tends to lose its magic. Plus we weren’t really allowed to decorate anything. Then with the foster families, I mean no one was out and out HORRIBLE like it wasn’t like I ever lived with The Grinch but when it came time to open gifts you could always kinda tell who the real kids were and who the foster kids were.”

Hook frowned at his wife, reaching over and running her shoulder as a means of comfort.

“I’m so sorry, Love,” he told her, his heart breaking for the woman sitting beside him. “You deserve a lifetime of happy Christmases and popcorn trees.”

Emma chuckled before she turned to her husband, melting at the sad puppy look on his face. “Well,” she lifted her glass of orange juice. “Here’s to both of us getting a lifetime of popcorn trees and merry Christmases.”

Hook raised his metal flask, lightly tapping her glass with it and smiling that crooked smile Emma loved so much. “I’ll drink to that, Swan.”

“But the year I had with Henry in New York wasn’t bad,” she said once they put their respected drinks down. “That was actually pretty nice but it wasn’t MY memories with him, it wasn’t MY traditions, it was what Regina came up for us. Which was nice, don’t get me wrong but…”

“It wasn’t real,” said Hook, earning a nod.

“She made Henry’s favorite ornament a little crown surrounding an apple and I had memories of always cooking mini apple tarts with him on Christmas Eve… I don’t even like apples. I’m forever grateful she gave me those memories and that year with him but I want real memories and real traditions with my family.” Emma shrugged, nodding towards a framed photo on the coffee stand of her and Henry. “Hell I mean even now, Henry mostly spends the season with Regina because they have their own little traditions that they had before I came along and I’m not gonna drag the kid away from that so I don’t know, Christmas has just never really  been that fun for me.”

“Well I promise that from now on, every Christmas will be fun, Swan. I promise. We got forever ahead of us after all.”

He reached over and stole another piece of popcorn but instead of eating it, Hook draped the opposite end of the string across his hook and he too began to string popcorn on the thin white thread.

Emma just grinned and leaned over, kissing him on his unshaven cheek. “Thank you. So what about you?”

“What about me, Love?”

“What was Christmas like as a pirate? Or before you became a pirate? My mom said some places in the Enchanted Forest celebrated Christmas, did your family?”

Hook nodded. “We didn’t go to mass twice a day like the thief does but I remember being young, very young, and my mother would set me in her lap and Liam would sit at her feet near the fireplace, and she’d tell us the story of Christmas and the miracle of the Virgin. Then afterwards she’d give us each a sweet she saved up to buy us. We were so poor that these little chocolates she bought were like gold to my brother and I.”

Emma smiled softly at the memory he shared with her, reaching over and grasping his hand. “That sounds really sweet, Killian.”

Hook shrugged, stringing another piece of popcorn on the thread. “After she passed there’s not much to tell, really. The first year after my father left us Liam sat me on his lap in our cabin and told me the story again, gave me a piece of chocolate that he nicked from the kitchens but after that first year we just didn’t really feel the need to celebrate. Then when we were grown we found out that most holidays aboard a ship were spent pulling into port, drinking, partying, plundering… the men who had families nearby would go to them, the ones who didn’t would pay so they might be able to wrap their arms around for the night… I, meanwhile, would have my own little Christmas competition and see how many barrels of rum I could get through before I passed out.” Hook chuckled rather sadly. “I’d always try to beat the previous years number.”

After a long silent moment Hook cleared his throat and turned towards a heart broken Emma. This time it was his turn to reassure her.

“But, like you, I’m looking forward to starting some new traditions with you, your boy, your parents…” Hook cleared his throat and glanced down at the carpet. “And who knows, perhaps some Christmas in the future our own little lass or lad might sit on my lap and hear the Christmas story…”

Suddenly, thoughts of a beautiful girl with her father’s blue eyes and her mother’s blonde hair or a little boy with green eyes like his mother and grandmother and jet black hair like his dad cuddling up close to Killian as her pirate sat in front of the fireplace in a rocking chair on Christmas Eve while he recited the well known biblical story with only the red and green lights of the Christmas tree and the warm orange glow from the fire lit up and perhaps the more modern ‘night before Christmas’ like she had always envisioned her father would read to her growing up, filled Emma’s thoughts and brought a smile to her face.

“I cannot begin to tell you how perfect that sounds,” she told him with a grin. Her brain started going into overdrive as she began picturing everything she had dreamt about doing with her parents as a child or the first year or so after she gave up Henry but this time with a baby that belonged to her and Killian. “And we can all decorate a gingerbread house together.”

“We can make a person made of snow...”

“We can decorate the tree and use WAY too much tinsel like in all those Instagram Christmas pictures …”

“Watch those Christmas themed moving paintings you call movies together…”

“Open up our stockings and let them eat all the candy out of it for breakfast..

By now both the pirate and the savior were beaming and practically giddy at the prospect of giving a future little Swan-Jones all of the traditions they themselves missed out on.

“We could even do our own, what did your mother call it? A Secret Santa?”

“Well that’s not really for a little family like ours but more like a big group. Speaking of; I have an red shoebox full of old pictures from before Storybrooke, do you happen to know where they are?”

“Last I saw it was in the attic on top of the juicer we got as a wedding present that we never use. Why?”

“I’m gonna give a copy of one particular photo to my person I just gotta find it and magic up a frame for it then I’ll be done. You got any idea what to get yours?”

“I do as a matter of fact,” Hook answered. “But I too have to find it up in the attic.”

Emma furrowed her brow at the pirate, continuing her meticulous stringing of popcorn. “Why what are you getting, who’d you get?”

“It’s supposed to be a surprise I thought?”

“It is but no one actually takes Secret Santa seriously. I mean no one besides my mom… Besides you know who I got.”

“I know who you got because you wanted me to switch.”

“Right so lemme know yours.”

Hook smirked at his wife, shaking his head. “Truthfully I was going to share it with you but now that I know you want it so bad…”

“Oh so now you aren’t gonna tell me?”

“Nope,” he said with a rather cheeky grin.

“Oh really?” Emma purred, setting her popcorn string down while Hook did the same, cocking his brow and biting his lip.

“Really,” he told her as she crawled over to him. Just as she leaned in to kiss him and as his hands were going to their rightful place on her hips the infuriating sound of their doorbell echoed throughout the house.

Emma’s eyes shot open and she quickly sat up from her straddling position, a look of embarrassment and guilt etched on her face.

“Shit,” she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

“What’s going on,” asked Hook as Emma got up off the couch with Hook folllwing. “Emma?”

“I thought the food drive was tomorrow,” she admitted as the couple headed to the front door, the blonde wringing her hands together. “I was gonna go to the store tonight and get a whole giant box worth of stuff for it, I even made a list… shit.

“Don’t worry, Swan, I’m sure no one will hold it against you.”

“I’m a princess and we live in a seaside property, trust me if we don’t give anything, it’ll get held.”

“Just tell the thief that it’ll be dishonorable to hold a grudge.”

Emma paused with her hand in the door knob to look at him. “Think that’ll work?”

“Doesn’t hurt to try.”

Emma took a deep breath before she opened the door to find, as she predicted, Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, who, to add insult to injury, had his rosary out in full display and a bible in his hand.

Then, because of course her father had to be there, she saw David waiting in the truck that was halfway packed with boxes and bags of food to give to the less fortunate citizens of Storybrooke.

“Hello Emma, Killian,” Robin greeted the couple with a polite nod of his head. “We’re here gathering food for the Storybrooke food-drive, do you have anything to donate?”

“Um… yeah, we- we have some… some things to give. Killian, you wanna go get what we have? To give to the poor?”

Killian smiled a rather uncomfortable smile at the group of thieves before he headed back into the kitchen leaving Emma alone with the three men.

“So you guys get all your shopping done?” asked Emma shoving her hands in her pocket.

“Almost,” Robin told her. “Roland wants to try shooting with a crossbow, I just have to find one that’s appropriate for his size.”

Emma's eyes went wide. “You- you’re going to give your eight year old a crossbow?”

“I know, I personally think it’s cheating as well, there’s no strength or really talent in merely pulling a trigger but it’s what he’s asked for.”

“...I see. Now do you guys all exchange gifts?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Robin answered. “I give my  men more traditional gifts and their gifts to me are acts of charity to those who go without during the holidays.”

“Seriously?”

Robin nodded. “The greatest gift of all is the ability to give to those less fortunate.”

“Of course it is,” Emma muttered as Hook reappeared with a box of Wheat Thins and a dented dusty can of chicken noodle soup that had half its label ripped off.

Emma bit her lip as Robin raised his brow at the rather measly offering. John cleared his throat and spoke first..

“Ya know I noticed the bug got a new set of snow tires,” the large man commented as relaxed as possible. “How much that set you back?”

“A… a few hundred,” Emma admitted as her face began to glow a brilliant red.

“I see.” John turned towards Robin and their eyes met, an unspoken conversation passing between them before they turned back to Emma and Hook.

“I’m sorry, Sheriff, you mind if I come in and use the facilities?” asked John with a not quite trusting smile.

“No please, go ahead,” Emma said as she moved out of the way and allowed him to pass. Her phone began buzzing wildly in her pocket but she choose to ignore it.

The group of now four people all stood gathered around the doorway for a moment before Tuck spoke.

“Ya wanna actually know one of my favorite passages from the Bible?” the friar asked, forcing Emma and Hook to hold back a groan. “‘ _Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it._ ’ Proverbs 3:27.”

“That’s one of my favorite verses as well,” Robin added. “That and ‘ _give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you_.’ Luke 6:38 I believe it was.”

“Do you have the bloody book memorized?” Hook asked his friend with a sliver of annoyance.

“I once risked capture and death to go to Mass one Sunday,” Robin admitted. “So yes I have… Sheriff.”

Emma sighed, rubbing her temple, “okay look, it’s not like we’re intentionally not giving to the poor. I thought the food drive was tomorrow so I was gonna go shopping tonight. I mean I even made a list of everything to buy,” she added, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the lengthy respectable list and handing it to him. “What we have in that bag is all the perishables we have on hand right now apart from my box of microwave popcorn but I’m using to string on the tree.”

Robin’s face fell as did Tucks.

“This is all you have to give right now?” asked Robin.

“Yes,” Emma sighed. “Robin, look I-.”

“Than no one could give more than you have,” the archer told them. “Thank you. Truly.”

The two of them smiled at the thieves words before John brushed past them.

“Give it back, John,” Robin told his friend the moment they crossed through the threshold.

Emma and Hook looked at one another before looking back at a confused Little John.

“Give what back?” the large man asked

“Just give it back,” Robin said again.

John signed before he reached into his jacket and, to the astonishment of Hook and Emma, pulled out not only one of Killians sapphire rings and Emma’s diamond bracelet but the unopened box of popcorn they were saving for their tree.

“You seriously stole from me?!” Emma yelled, snatching back the pieces of jewelry along with the box of popcorn.

“We robbed the rich sheriff/princess to feed the poor,” John said with a shrug. “It’s kind of our thing. There’s been a few movies about it.”

With a rather unamused look on her face she promised to drop the food off tomorrow at the makeshift food-pantry in the Merry Men’s camp.

“I do apologize again, Emma,” Robin said as Tuck and John headed back to the truck. “I should have known you wouldn’t so uncaring but with your chosen career path, can you truthfully blame me?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

But, despite everything, a hint of a smile shined through. Even after finding out her entire life was basically a fairytale, there were still some things that she found rather exciting and cool.

Emma, a sheriff, being robbed by Robin Hood and the Merry Men so they could feed the poor was one of them.

Robin returned the smile and gave a polite nod to the pirate and savior and bid them have a good day and a happy Christmas.

“ Robin, hang on,” Emma told the thief when he began his walk back to the truck where a less than amused David who, they assumed was just told they tried to rob his daughter and son in law.

“Yes?”

“Regina told you who she had for her Secret Santa right? And if she’d asked you’d switch with her right?”

“She was going to but I asked her to keep a secret. And no, I wouldn’t.”

“Seriously?” asked Emma, ignoring the smirk on Hooks face.

“Of course. Your mother asked us not to switch and to keep the secret. What honor would there be in switching or lying?”

“Exactly, there’s be no honor in it at all.” A smug Hook turned towards the blonde. “See Emma? There’d be no honor in telling each other. Thanks, mate,” he told the slightly confused thief.

“Um… You’re quite welcome. Happy Christmas, Killian.”

“Same to you, Locksley.”

“Merry Christmas, Robin.”

Once the truck and the thieves moved onto the next home Hook turned towards Emma and wrapped his arms around her waist while she draped hers around his neck.

“So are we adding almost getting robbed by Robin Hood and the Merry Men to our future Christmas traditions or no?” asked Hook, drawing a laugh from Emma.

“I’m gonna say no.”

Hook grinned, leaning down and kissing her softly.

“Thought so, Swan.”

 

Please Review!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all you Hoodies; the story of Robin Hood risking his life just to go to mass is actually true. It’s one of the earliest Robin Hood ballads called “Robin Hood and the Monk.” He and Little John get into a fight, Robin gets captured by the Sheriff... it’s actually a great story   
> https://mariahmccune.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/2/8/19282013/robin_hood_and_the_monk.pdf


	5. Rumbelle

“I still don’t see why you volunteered us to do this.”

“Because it’s Christmas, it’s a nice thing to do, and we need to set a positive example for Gideon.”

Rumple sighed as he walked beside Belle through the path in the forest that led to the Merry Men’s camp.

“He just managed to figure out how to pull himself into a standing position, Belle; somehow I doubt hearing about us handing out cans of soup and jars of peanut butter to the poor that a group of thieves collected will make a lasting impression on the boy.”

“Well it’ll make a lasting impression on me,” she told her husband with a quick kiss to his cheek. That seemed to soften him a bit so the brunette grinned and continued. “Not to mention you do sort of owe Robin. He did save your life in New York afterall,” she reminded him.

“He got an apartment out of it.”

“You tried to skin him alive.”

“After he stole from me.”

“You yanked out his heart in the Underworld.”

“I gave it back.”

Belle sighed, stopping in front of him. “How about this for a reason? It’ll make me happy. You’re a hero now, Rumple. You have to start doing heroic things.”

The brown haired man turned and  looked at her for a moment, that crooked little half smile that Belle found endearing but others found sly and conniving finding its way to his lips.

“Well then; I suppose I’ll have to suffer through this won’t I?”

Belle beamed at the man before her, leaning forward and kissing him.

“Thank you, Rumple. Now come on...” She took her previous place beside him and took his arm. “Let’s go show your son the kind of man I know you are. I want us to be able to be complete open books to him and I want our chapters to be full of good deeds.”

“Well hopefully I’m allowed a few secrets. Do you really think Gideon needs to know I murdered my first maid because she overheard me talking about the dagger?”

“He won’t care,” Belle said with such assurance it almost made Rumple believe her. “Because he’ll know the man you are isn’t the one you were.” 

Rumple stopped on the path they were walking on, turning towards the blue eyed beauty he called his own. “If I live another thousand years; I’ll never understand how you can believe in me as strongly as you do.”

She smiled at him, placing a hand on his cheek and gently stroking it with her thumb. “Because I’ve seen the man and I’ve seen the beast. I know which one your heart wants to be, Rumple.”

The two wrapped their arms around one another before Belle leaned in and kissed him. 

“I love you,” he told her as softly as he had ever spoken to someone. “More than words can express, Belle.”

“I love you too. Now come on.” She grabbed hold of his hand. “We promised Robin we would be there at one. And speaking of secrets…” she asked as they began their walk towards the camp once more. “Have you decided what to get for your secret service yet?”

“You really expect me to partake in a silly childish tradition?” he scoffed.

“I do. So have you choose a gift yet?”

“Not yet but there’s still five more days. Have you?”

“I have as a matter of fact. You just need to help me find the book I’m looking for in your study.”

“... Belle, my private library has priceless old antique first editions, any manuscript that comes from there is worth at least a thousand a piece.”

“I know. But the book will be free to me and that’s the point of it.”

“You’re really going to give away one of my priceless first edition books? For a secret Santa giveaway? To either one of the Charming idiots, the self inflated savior, the imbecilic pirate, the moralizing thief, the wicked witch, the evil queen or a sixteen year old boy who wouldn’t recognize its value even if you stapled the price tag to his forehead?”

“Try not to praise our friends so highly, Rumple. And yes I am. With your permission, of course,” she added with a smile that told Rumple that rather he granted her permission or not, Belles secret Santa would be getting whatever book she had set her heart on.

So, with that in mind, he just sighed, reminded her what was his is hers, and that he would happily help her look for the book when they got done with this.

Soon enough they came upon a clearing normally full of tents, cook fires, clothes hanging up to dry on low hanging branches and every tree it seemed had a stray bow leaning up against it.

But today all that had been cleared away to make room for several long fold out tables full of every type of perishable imaginable; cans of soup, jars of peanut butter, canned vegetables, canned meats, boxes of cereal both adult and child friendly alike, baby formula, candy bars, flour and sugar for baking, oil for cooking, dried herbs and spices, different types of pasta… 

There were several fires providing warmth to those standing around them while one of the Merry Men was sitting atop a snow covered stump playing ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ on his guitar.

Two folding tables stood off to the side of the large spread. Robin was serving bowls of steaming hot stew out of a gigantic black pot beside him at one and Regina was giving out homemade baked goods and hot cocoa at the other

Her apple turnovers, Rumple noticed with a smirk, remained untouched.

“I didn’t know Storybrooke had this many poor people,” her eyes moving over the long line of Storybrookes poorest residents.

“Did you really think Regina made everyone live comfortable when she created this place?” Rumple asked her. “Not to mention how many of these people were poor peasents with no real skills back in our world? Turnip farmer makes as much here as he did back in the enchanted forest.”

Belle nodded in agreement before they made their way over to Robin and Regina.

“Never thought I’d see the Evil Queen hand out homemade cinnamon rolls to the poor,” Rumple said when they got nearer to Regina and Robin. “My how the mighty has fallen.”

“Well I never thought I’d see the dark one pushing a stroller with a bookworm so I suppose we’re all full of surprises,” Regina said rather dryly as she handed a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie to the old lady who lived in a shoe but now lived in a run down section 8 apartment. “No offense, Belle.”

“Be nice you two, it’s Christmas,” Robin reminded the two former villains, smiling at the man he spooned out a bowl of stew for. “It’s a time for loving one another and making peace.”

Rumple smirked at the thief. “It’s a time for commercialism and for people to pretend to give a damn about their fellow man only to go back to hating them on December 26th.”

“God you’re an ass sometimes,” Regina muttered as she handed a man a brownie.

“It’s alright, M’lady,” Robin told her spooning out another bowl of stew. “He’s entitled to his beliefs.”

“No no no, a belief is orange marmalade is better than grape jam. What I just told you was the truth.”

Robin pursed his lips at the dark one. “It’s  _ your _ truth, Gold. How about we leave it at that?”

“So Robin, what do you need us to do?” Belle offered quickly when she saw Rumple open his mouth to argue with the thief. “Whatever you need; he and I are here for you full stop.”

Robin smiled at the woman who once saved his, Marian’s and an unborn Roland’s life. “Thank you, Belle. What I need from you is to assist Friar Tuck with the bagging and then I’m going to go help John and David unload this next batch of donations so Gold, would you mind dishing out the stew?”

“I would rather cut my heart out with a spoon.”

“What Rumple means is he would love to help you,” Belle said quickly, seeing the exasperated look on the thief’s face. 

Robin handled the ladle off to Rumple with a look of dislike and gave a quick kiss of thanks to Regina before he headed over to where John was unloading more food from the back of David’s pickup.

“Be nice,” Belle pleaded with the dark one. “Please?”

“I’m always nice.”

“Be nicer.”

Rumple sighed before he nodded. “For you and Gideon. Not the thief.”

“That’s all I’m asking for,” she told him with a smile and a quick kiss on the cheek before she walked over to where the good Friar was bagging the food that people have chosen.

Rumple sighed again as he walked behind the table where the large pot of stew sat along with a large assortment of plastic spoons and styrofoam bowls beside it.

“If I were to tell you that one day the Dark One and the Evil Queen would be handing out baked goods and bowls of rabbit stew to peasants you would have called me mad,” Rumple muttered, ladling out two bowls of stew to a nervous woman whose six year old was clutching at her mother's ragged coat. 

“Yeah well if you told me the Dark One would be married to the help and the Evil Queen would be raising three kids with a thief who used to sleep in a tent in the woods I would have fire balled you,” Regina countered, smiling at the young girl as she handed them both chocolate chip cookies.

Rumple chuckled, handing out another bowl of soup. “Our lives certainly didn’t go the way we thought they would go did they?”

Regina shook her head. “No they did not. But…” She looked towards Robin who was setting up some cases of bottled water on one of the table and smiled. “I’m glad it went this way.”

“Me as well,” said Rumple, sparing a glance towards Belle. “...How on earth did two villains such as us land two heroes such as them? Neither one of us deserve them.”

“Maybe in another life we were heroes too?”

“That’s about the only thing that makes sense,” Rumple said as he ladled out another bowl of stew.

Scream minutes passed in comfortable silence before there was finally a break in the people who had lined up for donations and a hot meal.

“So what does the married Dark One do for Christmas?” Regina asked as she snagged one of her cookies and handed one to Rumple as well.

“He wakes up when his one year old decides it's time to wake up, watches him ignore all the toys in favor of the wrapping paper, visits his wife’s father for a Christmas tea, watch his son ignore more gifts then goes over to your home for dinner,” he answered before taking a bite of the cookie.

“That all sounds rather boring,” said Regina

“Oh and I suppose your day will be filled of exhilaration?”

“No, it’ll be about as exciting as your’s just busier. Christmas morning Henry wakes me up at 7:00, affer gifts Robin, Roland and Robyn go to morning mass, I drop Henry off at Emma’s then I spend the rest of the day cooking while Robin and Roland go volunteer at the soup kitchen and Robyn spends the afternoon with Zelena.”

“That is quite the packed Christmas.”

“Oh you have no idea. Then on top of that on Christmas Eve all the Merry Men come over and eat dinner and exchange gifts then Robin, Roland and Robyn all go to midnight mass together.”

“The Merry Men do a gift exchange?” Rumple scoffed. “What on earth could they exchange that isn’t stolen; pine cones and rain water?”

“Robin makes them gifts and their gift to him is going out and doing charity.”

“He asks for charity as gifts? Good god, Regina, your husband is walking definition of a sap.”

“I know.” Regina looked towards Robin, a soft smile on her face as she watched him hug a woman who had been so grateful for what Robin and the Merry Men did that she had tears in her eyes. “But he's my sap and I love him.”

“Who’s a sap?”

Rumple and Regina turned towards the voices and the Queen smiled at Hook and Emma who had walked up to the two with a swagger.

“No one,” Regina answered less Robin might hear and become offended. “But what are you two doing here?”

“We just came by to drop off the food,” Emma answered, nodding to the not one but two oversized box of donations that Robin and John were setting out. “I didn’t really feel like having my jewelry or popcorn being pilfered again.”

“Yeah Robin told me about that,” Regina said with a smirk. “Don’t feel bad about that; they used to try to steal from me when Robin and I first started dating.”

“Try? What, did you have some potion you poured on your stuff, you cast some spell...?” 

“No magic required, Robin just asked them to stop.”

“Well do you think Robin could ask his men to stop stealing from us?” asked Emma hopefully.

Regina just smirked at the savior. “I don’t think your husband will go for you doing to Robin what I had to do to get him to ask the Merry Men to stop. Plus he’s really not into blondes.”

“... Oh.”

Regina laughed before she offered the two newlyweds each a cinnamon roll and while Hook took it eagerly with thanks Emma shook her head.

“Thanks Regina but I’m good,” said Emma. “My stomach's been feeling off lately, I’m actually gonna go see Whale later today.”

Rumple smirked “Has your body finally rejected being with the pirate? Took longer than I expected.”

Hook glared at his oldest enemy. “So what magic do you use to keep Belle by your side? Surely the sight of your ugly face has revolted her more than a few times.”

“Be nice you guys,” Emma told the two.

Rather than respond, Rumple waved his hand over Hooks cinnamon roll right as he was about to take a bite.

“Go ahead,” Rumple told him. “Eat the treat, Pirate.” He leaned in slightly. “I dare ya. As a matter of fact; make sure to eat your Christmas dinner too. Oh and don’t forget to open your secret Santa gift the moment you get it too…” 

Hook whipped towards his wife. “Emma-!”

“I’m not gonna let him poison your food, I promise.”

Hook cast one last glare at the smug Dark One before he and Emma walked away from the table to help Robin and John set out the food, tossing the cinnamon roll on Rumples table.

“What the hell did you do to his food?” Regina demanded. 

Rumple just turned towards his old student and smirked. “Not a thing.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t do anything to it, I merely wanted him to enjoy his Christmas treat. Is it my fault the pirate can’t trust me?”

Regina smirked at the Dark One. “I still have so much to learn from you.”

He reached over and grabbed the discarded cinnamon roll, taking a healthy bite out of it. “That you do, Dearie. That you do…”

 

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